Whether you're evaluating integrated software
systems or want to fine-tune the way you
currently manage prospects and buyers, follow
the steps below to make your front- and
back-office operations work more
efficiently.
*Plot your CRM path. Lay out the critical
path of customer communications, decisions,
actions, etc., as carefully as you plot your
construction schedules. Identify the
different customer processes for homes built
to customers' orders on bare lots and the
processes for spec or inventory homes. After
you've documented your CRM paths, see what
you can do to improve them.
*Stay in contact. Is the sales agent
responsible for ushering the customers and
their job through the various production
phases, or do you turn them over to your
contract administration, selections, or
customer service department? In a smaller
organization, the job may be handed over to
the project manager after it's sold.
*Make sure you explain the process to your
customers beforehand and maintain
communication with them throughout
production. Many builders give customers
private portals on their company Web sites so
they can monitor their jobs online. It's one
way to manage expectations and keep the
project going smoothly.
*Cut cycle time. Coordinating your production
processes with your CRM path (for example,
determine the latest date customers can pick
out lighting without compromising the
production schedule) helps decrease cycle
time between prospect visits, lot selection,
loan approval, final selections, and other
buyer-related processes.
*Find out why you didn't make the cut.
Solicit feedback from prospects who didn't
buy from you. Find out what they are looking
for and why they didn't choose your
company.
Web sites provide a good opportunity for
people to provide information anonymously.
They may not feel comfortable telling you in
person or on the phone that your entries lack
punch or that your salespeople are too
hard-sell. Use the information to fine-tune
product development, communication systems,
and other functions.
Bill Allen is a member of NAHB's Business
Management & Information Technology Committee
and is president of W.A. Allen Consulting
(http://waallenconsulting.com). The Redmond,
Washington, company provides information
technology consulting services and process
management assistance to the home building
industry. Contact Bill at 425-885-4489 or via
e-mail at skagit@foxinternet.net.
For more information about this item, please
contact William Heslop at 800-368-5242 x8472
or via e-mail at wheslop@nahb.com.
">TECH TALK 5: MANAGING PROSPECTS AND BUYERS
By Bill Allen
This is the fifth article in the nine-part
Tech Talk series.
The concept of customer relationship
management (CRM) systems implies connectivity
between the Web, a builder's internal
systems, and the sales operation. The
ultimate dream is a seamless, perpetual
management system that enables the customer
to participate in the home building process
from across the street or across the world,
and enables the builder to provide the best
product with a glitch-free closing. There's
technology available to do that, but the
following principles haven't changed:
*A buyer makes a decision based on emotion,
and backs it up with facts. No amount of
automation can substitute for the human
interaction that facilitates the most major
of buying decisions. E-mail can't communicate
body language, emotional tone, or eye
contact, and it can't facilitate a real-time
discussion. Prospects still want to feel as
if they are special, so it's important to
treat them that way. Take their calls and
meet with them in person, even if it's
inconvenient for you.
*Buyers want choices. Technology is probably
most effective for this aspect of the sales
process. A good Web site lets a builder
explain the product and process in a way that
makes prospects feel like they are already
part of the team. The same Web site can
display myriad product choices and let buyers
indicate their preferences online. Before you
put that information online, make sure you
have good systems in place to coordinate
selections, options, upgrades, and the
like.
When it comes to managing prospects and
buyers, the more integration between the
processes mentioned above and your customer
database, the better. Most sales office
software products have features that handle
the "contract to closing" process, but they
don't connect with construction scheduling or
cost analysis functions.
Whether you're evaluating integrated software
systems or want to fine-tune the way you
currently manage prospects and buyers, follow
the steps below to make your front- and
back-office operations work more
efficiently.
*Plot your CRM path. Lay out the critical
path of customer communications, decisions,
actions, etc., as carefully as you plot your
construction schedules. Identify the
different customer processes for homes built
to customers' orders on bare lots and the
processes for spec or inventory homes. After
you've documented your CRM paths, see what
you can do to improve them.
*Stay in contact. Is the sales agent
responsible for ushering the customers and
their job through the various production
phases, or do you turn them over to your
contract administration, selections, or
customer service department? In a smaller
organization, the job may be handed over to
the project manager after it's sold.
*Make sure you explain the process to your
customers beforehand and maintain
communication with them throughout
production. Many builders give customers
private portals on their company Web sites so
they can monitor their jobs online. It's one
way to manage expectations and keep the
project going smoothly.
*Cut cycle time. Coordinating your production
processes with your CRM path (for example,
determine the latest date customers can pick
out lighting without compromising the
production schedule) helps decrease cycle
time between prospect visits, lot selection,
loan approval, final selections, and other
buyer-related processes.
*Find out why you didn't make the cut.
Solicit feedback from prospects who didn't
buy from you. Find out what they are looking
for and why they didn't choose your
company.
Web sites provide a good opportunity for
people to provide information anonymously.
They may not feel comfortable telling you in
person or on the phone that your entries lack
punch or that your salespeople are too
hard-sell. Use the information to fine-tune
product development, communication systems,
and other functions.
Bill Allen is a member of NAHB's Business
Management & Information Technology Committee
and is president of W.A. Allen Consulting
(http://waallenconsulting.com). The Redmond,
Washington, company provides information
technology consulting services and process
management assistance to the home building
industry. Contact Bill at 425-885-4489 or via
e-mail at skagit@foxinternet.net.
For more information about this item, please
contact William Heslop at 800-368-5242 x8472
or via e-mail at wheslop@nahb.com.
